Dr Mahathir Mohamad has a divine message for PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang – repent!

The nonagenarian politician also accused the Marang MP, who is an Islamic scholar, of committing a colossal sin and urged him to retract his Amanat Hadi (Hadi's address).

Mahathir, is response to Hadi's call for the former premier to repent, said it is the PAS president who should atone for his actions.

Pointing out that the Quran forbade Muslims from being divided, he said Hadi had “mengkafirkan” (declared as infidels) Muslims in Malaysia.

“Allah forbids the act of 'mengkafir' (branding others as infidels) and pledged that those who do so to Muslims, the 'kafir' will return to them.

“This is what happened to Hadi and PAS when they worked together with DAP,” he added in a blog posting this afternoon.

Mahathir once again blamed Amanat Hadi for the Memali incident and the death of four police personnel at the hands of the followers of Ibrahim Mahmud @ Ibrahim Libya, who believed they were waging a holy war.

The former premier also questioned what gave Hadi and PAS the right to declare those who do not join the Islamist party as infidels.

“Where does it state in the Quran or Hadith that one is a Muslim only if the person becomes a PAS member? Are the 1.7 billion Muslims around the world not Muslims because they did not join PAS?” he asked.

Mahathir claimed that PAS caused a deep divide between Muslims in Malaysia, which saw children turning against their parents and husbands against their wives.

“There were those who prayed separately...were not willing to be buried in an ordinary (Muslim) cemetery because it was considered a cemetery of infidels...

“This is the product of Hadi's amanat. This is a huge sin. For this alone, there is a need to repent.

“Hadi has caused much damage to Islam and Muslims in Malaysia. The division caused by him has weakened Muslims,” he added.

Mahathir also claimed that many of Hadi's followers are obsessed with him to the point of setting aside the teachings of the Quran and Hadith, and accept whatever claims by the PAS president without question.

The former premier accused Hadi of defending the alleged wrongdoings of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, and working towards ensuring that Umno wins in the general election, even PAS' own expense.

Mahathir, who is now Pakatan Harapan chairperson, also reiterated that PAS will never win if it heads into the elections alone, except for maintaining a measure of support at the state level.

“At the federal level, PAS can only be a small component in the opposition,” he said.

He maintained that PAS would continue to “take advantage” of Islam regardless.

“Time and again Hadi’s motion to amend Act 355 has been postponed, but PAS is still using it to garner political support.

“This is how it is with PAS. Before PAS existed, Malays were united and were brothers, just like it is required by the religion,” said Mahathir.

Hadi is seeking leave to table a private member's bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act, also known as Act 355.

The amendment will increase the current punishment that can be meted out by the Syariah courts to 10 years' imprisonment, RM100,000 fine and 100 strokes of the rotan.